Managing stocks well comes down to good timing. It’s kind of like a game of poker – you have to know when to hold onto the investments you’ve made, as well as when to fold your hand and sell stocks for their current value.

It’s a risky game to play at first, but it does get easier with time. This isn’t to say you’ll stop having to deal with investment risks altogether. However, you should be able to make more money with less stress once you get a good understanding of when to buy and sell stocks.

Here are five timing tips on buying stocks to help you figure it all out.

1. Invest Your Money Periodically

No matter what stock(s) you’re buying and what the current value is, don’t go all-in on one stock with the entirety of your investment money. It’s much smarter to ease into investing and to spread your funds out a bit.

Invest in one or two stocks at a time until you have a healthy portfolio established. From there, you can determine whether it’s worth to buy more stocks of a company that you’re already invested in or if you want to keep looking for good opportunities.

2. Notice When a Stock is Undervalued

Speaking of good opportunities, one of the best times to buy a stock is when it becomes undervalued. Think of large, well-established companies like Apple and Nike. These aren’t going anywhere anytime soon (all things constant).

But, they do get themselves in a bit of media trouble from time to time. Such PR can hurt the brand for a little while, but it won’t affect the stocks of a strong business long-term.

3. Don’t Make Decisions in the Heat of the Moment

The thing about letting yourself get caught up in the press is that you’re not seeing things from a practical perspective. No company is perfect. All businesses are bound to make mistakes and lose customers from time to time, and for a wide range of reasons.

But, this doesn’t necessarily mean the stocks are going to plummet. Similarly, even the best marketing initiatives or sales numbers won’t always cause stocks to rise. The investment market is a lot more complex than that, which is why you need to stop and think about the money at stake before you make any rash decisions.

4. Play the Long Game

Think about the rise and fall of stocks like this: you want to always come out on top, and the best way to do that is to play the long game. Don’t panic when one of your stocks drops out of nowhere, as it will more than likely rise again.

The catch is that this rise could happen one month from now or one year from now. But, it will probably occur at some point as long as the company is still in business.

5. Diversify Your Stocks

This final tip to keep in mind when buying stocks goes hand in hand with the process of playing the long game. You want to take each round of investments you make as an opportunity to expand the markets you’re involved in. Maybe you buy a sports company’s stocks one day and the next you invest in a few tech startups.

Continuing on like this means you’ll end up with a strong portfolio. Even if one market experiences a big crash or a well-known company goes down, you’ll have other healthy stocks in separate industries to fall back on.

Use These Tips on Buying Stocks to Start Learning About Investments

The best way to learn about buying stocks is to put a bit of your own money into them. This makes you pay a lot more attention to the market and the way stocks really work than reading about them alone can do.

It’s time to put these tips on buying stocks to action and learn hands-on.

If you need a few more stock insights before you dive into the world of investments, click here.